Stalked By Madmen
by MX5
Summary: While setting up a client's wife in Italy the husband dies suddenly. Jim and Ruby return to London to find that the dead man had two very revengeful-minded sons. A series of near accidents, accidents, and other mayhem ensue as Jim tries to catch the two men intent on killing him and Ruby.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Preparing To Depart

Ruby Gray, nee Moriarty, was stitching up a wound on an assassin's arm when Dr. Blair came in to check her work. She put down her scissors, tied the last knot and stood back from her patient.

"Beautiful stitching job!" Dr. Blair nudged her in the upper arm. "I don't need to check your work anymore." she taped a bandage on the sutures and told the assassin that he could go.

"You never needed it in the first place," she scolded lightheartedly, dumping the scissors in the used tools bin so they could be sterilized. "worrywart."

"Sometimes the staff here can get a little nasty." Dr. Blair rather feebly defended himself as Ruby closed the curtains in the exam section of the big room. "Do you hear anything on that baby you carried?"

"On Arthur?" it had been a solid year since she had seen the little baby or his mom and dad.

"That's right."

"Nope. The last thing Jim or I heard about them was that Bill had gotten a job offer from a company in the USA so they were going to move over there in New York I think."

"Good for them." Dr. Blair and Ruby glanced over to the entranceway to their floor, seeing one of the female assassins with a wound in her side. Both of them rushed over to help her.

It was a cold day for early April, Jim thought as he parked the car in the garage and unlocked the side door. Ruby was late coming home as she had a surgery with Dr. Blair on one of Jim's assassins.

"Why don't I cook for her tonight?" Jim rarely cooked in the kitchen, as Ruby preferred to do it all herself. She had seen the results of Jim messing about in the kitchen and always had to intervene before the dish became inedible.

Jim tossed a kitchen towel over one shoulder like he'd seen Ruby do all the time. He pulled out a package of pork chops, olive oil, oregano, and several small potatoes. Jim set to work, chopping, peeling, boiling, smashing. He knew how to make mashed potatoes at least, having watched Ruby do it several times. It was one of her favorite sides; the potato being her favorite vegetable.

About 14 minutes later, Ruby walked up the front walk, smelling something like smoke wafting out the door and hearing a screeching sound from the smoke alarm. She opened it up, dumping her purse on the end table and walking into the kitchen.

The kitchen had smoke issuing from the frying pan on the stove, a pot was boiling over, so Ruby darted in, turned down the heat on both burners, then turned to look at Jim. He was putting on the oven mitts on both hands, his face flushed with the heat from the pan as he began turning down the heat.

"I thought you were still in surgery." surprised, Jim took off one of the oven mitts and hung it up.

Ruby looked at him with a half smile on her face. "Is that a thank you or a what the hell?" she stood on a chair to disconnect the smoke detector, silencing the kitchen.

"Both?" he stood up and glanced into the frying pan. "Ugh, charcoal!"

"Don't be stupid!" Ruby picked up the oven mitt, grasped the cast iron handle on the pan and rotated it. "There's a little bit of a burn on the edges. Did you put olive oil in to prevent this?"

"No," he admitted. "you know me."

"Got to oil the pan, Jim. Cast iron is very unforgiving." she shook out some olive oil into the pan and turned the chops over. It was plain that Jim hadn't seasoned the meat so Ruby reached for an old favorite-a can of cream of mushroom soup. She opened it up, ignoring Cassidy's meows for a taste, then dumped the can into the pan. Lowering the pan temperature and covering it with a lid, she set it to simmer for ten minutes.

"What can I do?"

"Nuke us a veg, would you?"

"Sure." he chose another one of Ruby's favorites, green beans. Ruby made Jim stand at the stovetop and began to quiz him on cooking potatoes.

He stabbed a potato piece with a fork and when it went through easily he knew they were done. Taking a colander, he drained the potatoes, reached for the masher tool, then began to smash the potatoes. Both of them liked the vegetable slightly lumpy, so he didn't put too much effort into it.

"I thought you were in surgery," Jim mentioned as he pounded the potatoes. "she didn't die, right?"

Ruby laughed. "No. Blair found a slug lodged near her liver and we were able to cauterize the bleeding and dig it out. She will be OK and ready to assassinate again in a few weeks."

"Good. She's one of my best." not that he would have it become public knowledge of course. Seb was on a much deserved vacation with his son and girlfriend so the second best assassin was temporarily promoted to the first best.

"Well then," Jim announced after they sat down to supper. "everything is all set for our trip to Italy."

"When do we go?"

"Tomorrow." Jim speared a piece of pork chop and chewed. He'd never heard of cream of mushroom soup with chops before but he rather enjoyed it. It was comfort food to Ruby as it was something that her mother used to make when she was a child.

"Good thing I've been brushing up on my Italian." Ruby remarked. Jim eyed her from across the table. She'd recovered from childbirth very well, her belly deflated, she was hitting the company gym on her days off so she was looking better than ever. The couple who adopted Arthur had moved to America and they knew nothing after that.

They'd discussed children for themselves many times and were on the same viewpoint. They were sure that they wanted children now the question was just the timing. Neither one of them were particularly eager for children at the moment, but both of them knew the time came when it came. Ruby and Jim had decided that after a year they could start trying.

"You know some Italian?"

"A tiny bit. My grandfather was stationed in Italy and he taught me a few phrases."

"Nice." Jim had been fantasizing recently about having sex with his wife in an Italian villa, much like they had done when in St. Croix. He hoped Ruby didn't want sex tonight as he was tired and he bet she was too.

Not that they hadn't had sex since the delivery. Jim was careful to use rubbers until they had both agreed to start trying for a baby. The first unprotected sex since before the birth had to be special to Jim so he was going to put out all the romance he had in him; hoping to surprise his wife.

After supper Jim cleaned up, Ruby began her evening yoga session in front of the TV with a mat underneath her. Clad in her pajama pants and a t-shirt, she began the warrior pose when Jim came in. When he'd first seen her doing yoga he'd wondered if she'd lost her mind, but when she told him about it, he decided to try it as well.

It was working for him too. Jim was athletic and well built, though now he had some real core strength. A bonus side effect was that both of them could last longer when they had sex as well.

So it was no surprise to Ruby when Jim joined in on her session. Together they spent half an hour strengthening their muscles.

"We will want to hit the sack early tonight," Ruby mentioned. "what time do we get to the gate?"

"We need to be there by ten AM." Jim answered, dropping his hands to his sides.

"We should head to bed now." it was 9:30.

"Righto." Ruby rolled up her mat and stashed it beside the couch. Jim did likewise as Ruby picked up her cat, marching upstairs. Cassidy, still full of kitten energy, leapt out of her owner's grip and streaked downstairs. The now 3-year-old cat was going to stay with Dr. Blair while the couple was out of town. "Get back here, you!"

Jim laughed as Ruby turned around, ready to give chase. He turned her back and marched her up into their room.

Collapsing into bed, Ruby kissed her husband as he kissed her back. The night was still cold so they brought out the big fleece blanket that they used during the winter. Ruby was always cold so Jim was used to her hogging it all the time. Tonight she was generous with sharing it for some reason. Jim seized a corner of the blanket and yanked it in his direction playfully. Ruby played his tug-of-war for a few minutes before smacking him on his butt and pretending to abscond with the blanket.

"Hey!" he protested as Cassidy jumped on him, grinning with the blanket in her hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Rome

Jim and Ruby disembarked the plane, luggage in hand. To Ruby's surprise, Seb was there with a rental car, an Alfa Romeo. Grinning widely at Ruby's expression, he twirled his sunglasses on one finger and put them on, dangling his car keys.

"I thought you were on vacation, Seb." Ruby said as they got closer.

The old soldier gave her a cocky glance. "I've been here for a week on vacation, Ruby. I come off vacation right now as Jim's here so we can get to work."

"So what's the first thing on our agenda, Jim?" they got into the car as Seb started it up.

Jim took his shades off. "First off we have a function to go to tonight. It's a black tie affair."

"I need to get gussied up, eh?" Ruby was glad she'd thought to bring her makeup bag and heels with her. If she knew Jim, there would be a few options already to pick from in the bedroom.

"Yes indeed. I took the liberty to have Seb get you a few dresses and shoes you can choose from."

"Oh!" Ruby rubbed her hands together like she couldn't wait to get started. Jim put his arm around her with a grin as he couldn't wait to see the end result. She was pretty enough in her everyday clothes but he sometimes did like to see her all dressed up.

At the villa, Ruby nearly dropped her duffel bag and suitcase as she took in the sight of the Mediterranean style little house and décor. Jim, who had always rented that villa whenever he was in Italy, just smirked as Ruby picked up her things and hauled them inside.

All the walls were white, facing the water was a porch that had a roof over it. The kitchen was thoroughly modern, a bedroom was off the living room, painted a very light shade of brown which made Jim think of beach sand.

"Oh wow!" Ruby was in love with the porch which had a chaise lounge on it. Tieback curtains were rustling softly as a small breeze came in off the ocean. The curtains were sheer with tints of white that had prints of seashells along the borders.

"I always knew I'd be bringing you back here." Jim remarked as Ruby stepped off the porch. The villa was upon a high rocky shelf so they were looking down at the village and the inlet to the sea.

"Back here?" Ruby questioned.

"Yes," Jim answered as they sat themselves down on the living room couch. "remember I was here in this villa for two years. I sat on this couch and thought about you, knowing I would bring you here so we could fill this place with happy memories."

"You were setting up a criminal network here for two years?"

"It was a very long and complicated process," he explained. "I made several contacts, essentially reproducing my business model here and there's an Italian man, Fabian, who's the Italian me, so to speak. He will be running the outfit once we work out all the kinks. Last year I had my tech support crew down here to try to work out some computer glitches. They did most of them but there's some glitches I want you to look at."

"Shouldn't all the kinks be worked out beforehand? It should be smooth running now, right?"

"There's been a lot of setbacks," Jim told her. "Fabian had some walkouts because they weren't making a lot of money, some new clients wouldn't pony up the fees, and they don't have a lot of people right now so they're underemployed."

"Oh. Do you need me to train some ladies to charm the money out of the penny pinchers?" Jim laughed as Ruby slid her leg into his lap. "Should I don my Vicky Renegade character?"

"You might want to. Now we need to get dressed up for the black tie event tonight."

Ruby stood up as Jim did. "Good thing Magnussen won't be there."

"Sherlock killed him," Jim led his wife into the bedroom, pushing aside the sliding closet door. "choose your poison, darling."

"Oh!" Ruby selected a black and red dress. She hustled into the bathroom, pulling on the frock effortlessly. The top of the dress was black, under her bust to mid thigh was red. There were no sleeves to the dress; it was a low cut neckline. Ruby selected her black sandals with the chunky kitten heel.

Jim had given her a pair of red ruby earrings set in gold so she put those on along with the matching necklace. She emptied her makeup bag on the counter, selecting what she wanted and applied it to her face. With her outfit, Ruby felt a bright red lipstick would work well. After applying it, she stashed her phone and the lipstick in her black clutch purse, she presented herself to Jim for his approval.

He was dressed in a Westwood tuxedo with plenty of hairspray to keep his locks down. Ruby grinned widely seeing him looking so sharp and handsome, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Well hello there, sexy lady." Jim purred into her ear. "I hope I'm on your dance card this evening."

"Maybe," Ruby was coy as he led her out to the Alfa. Seb gave her a complimentary wolf whistle. "thanks, Seb."

"Did you set this party up?" Ruby peered out the window.

"I suggested it to Fabian and he did everything." Jim got out of the car and gave his hand to Ruby.

"It's almost like something out of the Count Of Monte Cristo," his wife told him, seeing the Greco-Roman building looming up with expertly groomed topiaries and garden lighting.

Inside the building there was a ballroom with polished hardwood floors, paintings gilded in gold and silver, a string quartet in one corner, and a massive hors d'oeuvre table nearby. Waiters in Georgian costume went back and forth from the kitchen as the chandeliers overhead, long ago converted to electricity, were illuminated brightly.

"My gosh. I've never seen something so elaborate."

"Don't start feeling like you've been out-classed my dear," Jim sensed her uneasiness. "you are the classiest lady here you know."

Ruby flashed him a smile. "Thanks, honey."

"You're welcome. May I have this dance?" he held out his hand.

"Of course, my dear." she joined hands with him and they walked out onto the dance floor. Ruby wasn't a very good dancer and neither was Jim, but he'd had more lessons than she did. Sensing her nervousness, Jim began to direct her how to dance properly on the floor. Both of them were soon effortlessly gliding along the floor.

When the song ended, Jim dipped Ruby playfully, eliciting a laugh of pleasure from her as she stood back upright.

"Hello, Jim. This must be Ruby." a tall blonde haired man with deep blue eyes wearing a Tom Ford tuxedo ambushed them at the refreshment table.

"Fabian," Jim picked up a champagne flute and handed one to Ruby. "lovely party."

"Thank you. This must be Ruby," Fabian kissed the back of her hand. "pleasure. You look stunning."

"Thank you, my good sir." he smiled at her.

"So where are we with the network issues, Fabian?" Jim always wanted to get down to business.

"I would say about ninety percent of them have been solved. Someone tried to cut costs and buy inferior network command modules. We are still having some coding issues."

"Ruby here can take a look at them," Jim put an arm around his wife. "she was a computer programmer who specializes in networks."

"Wonderful," Fabian glanced at Ruby. "I hope you're up for the challenge, Mrs. Moriarty."

"Trust me sir, I definitely am." Ruby tempered her enthusiasm, sensing that it would be off putting to Fabian to hear it. The Italian criminal network couldn't hire any programmers locally given the nature of what the network was for, so they had to improvise with what they had. Jim had felt Ruby would be able to set it right for months now.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: First day in Rome

That night upon coming home, Jim and Ruby were both buzzed from the drink they had consumed, so they elected to sit out on the porch and watch the ocean traffic go by until it was bedtime.

Jim sat out on the chaise lounge, Ruby sat next to him. Together they spent a few minutes in silence as a fishing trawler slowly motored into the pier. The sounds were too faint to hear from where they were, but that didn't spoil the ambiance.

The seashell chimes clicked a few times as a low and salty ocean breeze drifted up towards them. Jim reached over for Ruby's legs and put them in his lap, smiling at her through his buzz. Ruby took the hint and plunked herself down in his lap then, running her hands through his hair and down his face.

Unlike Sherlock who had very sharp looking cheekbones, Jim had a strong jawline which suggested to Ruby an indication of his inner toughness. Sometimes he would go to work unshaven, something that Ruby just didn't like very much. When it got too bad, she would often just shave him in bed before he got up. Whether Jim noticed it or not she didn't know.

"So what do you think of Italy so far?"

"What do you mean? I haven't seen anything of it yet." Ruby teased gently as Jim's dark eyes bore into hers. Both of them could feel some sexual tension in the air so Jim broke it by thrusting his face forward so their lips could meet.

Ruby knew how Jim wanted their unprotected sex to be romantic and special so this wasn't the night for it. However they could at least make out for awhile until they were tired enough to get to bed.

So she prolonged the kiss for a minute or two, put her hands on both sides of Jim's face the way she liked, then pulled her face away. Jim's eyes were still shut from the kiss at first, then he opened them slowly, staring at her with longing.

"We can make out tonight but no more than that." she cautioned him, not wanting him to get his hopes up. Jim understood as he slid one hand up her shapely leg, squeezing her inner thigh and gaining access to what he wanted. Sliding two fingers up inside her, Jim began to slowly work his fingers in and out.

Ruby wasn't ready for that but as soon as he began to work her, she felt herself become more aroused and it soon got more comfortable. Eager to stimulate him, she unfastened his belt, opened up his fly, and began to do to him what he was doing to her.

With their faces nearly welded together at the lips, they licked, necked, then tongued each other with ferocity, stepping up the intensity. It wasn't long before they both were sweaty and panting; Jim started shaking. Ruby knew that meant he was very close, so she quickly yanked a tissue out of the nearby box and prevented him from making her dress a mess.

Likewise Jim knew that Ruby was quite close. He gave her clitoris a small yank, murmured words of seduction, and she climaxed almost violently. She went weak in the knees and moved to sit beside Jim but he stopped her.

"You're shaking, hon," he noticed. "too much for you?"

Ruby exhaled noisily. "Nope. More like not enough."

Jim just laughed as she joined in. "How about tomorrow?"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, Ruby," the seashell chimes clattered together loudly as a stronger ocean breeze jostled them. "I don't want to prolong your sexual desires. Especially when it's so strong and satisfying to be a part of it."

"What time is it?" she glanced at her phone. "It's about 11 and we need to be up early tomorrow."

"Can I unzip you out of that dress?" they got up off the lounge, locked the sliding glass door, then went into the bedroom.

"Would I ever say no to you?" Jim put the zipper tab in his teeth and tried to pull it down that way but got stuck halfway. Giggling, he tried again, then resorted to his hands. Ruby took a makeup remover towelette, wiped off all her makeup, took off her heels and the dress, then sprawled out on the bed. She struck a pose for Jim, prompting him to smack her butt.

"Move over." Jim climbed into bed naked as Ruby brushed her teeth then stripped down as well. She got into bed naked, allowed Jim to spoon with her, falling asleep easily.

Eight AM came rather too soon for either one of the couple. Jim woke up first, reaching over to silence the alarm clock. He tickled Ruby's elbow, gently breathed onto her neck, trying to wake her up. She was holding out for a kiss; that he was certain.

He was right. Ruby deepened the kiss, reaching up with one hand to stroke his hair.

Their makeout session could have gone on all day, but they had work to do. Ruby and Jim got dressed, had breakfast, then Seb took them over to the office complex which was designated the criminal network headquarters.

Jim took Fabian into a conference room to mentor him, while Ruby was introduced to their technical director, Carlo. He was short and squat, younger than she was but already prematurely balding in spots. He wore tan chinos with a black and white bowling shirt and his pockets were stuffed with pens and pencils.

Carlo had obviously tried to shake off the stereotype of the classic computer nerd but it didn't work very well. He even spoke in a nasal tone which Ruby suspected was a breathing issue like a deviated septum.

After a run down on what the operating systems were and the kinds of problems they were experiencing, Ruby was shown to an empty computer terminal and left to her own devices.

Most of the glitches that she found were simple mistakes that were easily fixable. A few of them required her to go over to the mainframe closet on that floor and reroute a few wires. Fortunately she was not one of those women who were afraid to get the slightest bit of black grease on her fingers. She had to kneel down on the floor to reach the networking wire panels but that didn't bother her at all.

"Hey," Jim stood behind her at the terminal. "Ready for lunch?"

Ruby jumped, her hand falling on the mouse with a clatter. "Sure!"

The criminal just guffawed as he led her off the second floor and down to the lobby. "Really intent on working, right?"

"Yes indeed," Ruby agreed, taking his arm. "a lot of the fuck ups were just trifling little things. I did have to do some rewiring."

"How much am I going to owe you for this?" they took a seat at an outdoor cafe.

"As much as you got. Later." the tables didn't have tablecloths on them so she contented herself with copping a quick squeeze of Jim's inner thigh. He stared at her, giving her a saucy look as the waiter handed them menus.

"Well, if we find a unisex bathroom or empty conference room.."

"No, Jim! I mean I'm hot, horny, and I want your piece." Ruby kept her voice down.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so worked up since we first got together."

"It's been four years since we've been married, Jim and yeah, we spent a year getting to know each other beforehand so I'm glad I can still surprise you sometimes!"

Blushing now, Jim was happy for a distraction as the waiter asked them what they wanted to order. Ruby asked for linguine alfredo, Jim wanted the chicken parmesan.

Neither of them wanted wine with lunch, something which seemed to scandalize the waiter deeply. With a huff, he took the menus away, grumbling like they had done him a personal wrong.

"Sheesh," Jim muttered as they sipped their sodas. "is that guy on his period or something?"

Ruby nearly snorted her soda as she began to laugh. "I think we're now the objects of scorn." a few of the other diners weren't being subtle about their disapproval of them not drinking wine midday.

"Like it's everyone's problem not ours."

When the waiter came back with their orders, he slammed both dishes on the wrought iron table with resounding bangs. Jim caught the guy by the arm, fired a stream of Italian in the guy's face then let him go.

"What did you say?" she understood some of it but he'd been too quick.

"I said that it was no problem of his so why doesn't he just act nice and pleasant or he gets no tip."

"Nice one."

"Thanks."

The rest of the day was filled with Jim and Ruby doing their respective duties. To Ruby's dismay the entire floor had been wired badly for network services, the whole interface looked very shoddy.

"Carlo! I don't know who programmed this network interface but all the modules need to be redesigned to make it more user friendly." she couldn't make head or tail of it.

At the same time, Jim was in with Fabian, outlining a plan to start the website operating as soon as Ruby had all the technical issues in hand. Both of them heard Ruby's declaration that the network interface needed a redesign badly and Carlo's muted swearing.

"You'll need to hire at least 4 snipers so I suggest ex military men," Jim wrote this on an old fashioned chalkboard. "you'll need a secretary, a few technicians for the computers, and I also recommend a medical wing on the upper floor of the building. I expanded to include one in my building and it's worked really well. You know by law gunshots have to be reported to the police so if they can get here to get medical attention it's even better. A surgeon will be your best bet obviously. You can upscale when you get busier with clients."

"Sounds like a plan." Fabian looked like he couldn't wait to get started.

Jim smirked. He knew there was a reason he picked this guy to head up operations in Italy.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Romantic Night

"I hope you're ready, my love," Jim put his arm around Ruby's shoulders in the car on the way home. She was a bit tense so he would give her a shoulder massage later on. "I'm going to give you what you asked for."

"Oooohhh," was all Ruby said. She caught Seb's eye in the rearview mirror, giggling as he winked at her.

When they got into the villa, Ruby was surprised to see that their dinner was all laid out for them. Jim knew Ruby loved spaghetti and meatballs so he ordered it from a local restaurant (though not the one they had been at during lunch!). Seb had picked it up and it sat for them, still warming on the counter. Two wine glasses and a bottle of champagne was chilled in a bucket, two brass candlestick holders had elegant looking red tapered candles in them, matches by their side.

Jim lit the candles as Ruby poured out champagne for them. They had their dinner, Jim pulled out chocolate covered strawberries with the crowns cut off, then took Ruby by the hand.

"Out on the porch, my dear love." he flicked on the wall sconce light, giving the porch a dim glow.

"Oh hang on. I bought something for this and I want to show it to you."

"Really?"

"I need to go put it on! Hang on a second." when Ruby reappeared, she was wearing a bathrobe, but it was see through and only went down to her mid thighs.

Jim whistled. "You look wonderful."

"Thanks." he'd stripped down while he waited for her; now only an old pair of swim trunks covered him up. The two of them sat on the chaise lounge at first, eating the strawberries like Lady and the Tramp. When those were gone, Jim got up, pushed Ruby to lay down, then sat on the edge of the lounge. He began to neck her, gently at first then faster, putting a little bite in it the way she liked.

The ocean breeze wafted by as a cruise ship slowly came into the bay. Neither Jim nor Ruby noticed anything. The villa was high up enough so the passengers wouldn't be accidentally gazing at a couple having sex. It was nighttime anyway and the sheer drapes enclosing the porch could always give them some protection.

Twenty uninterrupted minutes later, Ruby stroked Jim's hair as he paused for a minute to catch his breath.

"Don't make yourself light headed." she cautioned.

"Do you want us to go all the way right here on the porch or on the bed inside?"

"Preferably on the bed." Jim leaned over Ruby and gave her a couple rough dry humps uncomfortably. "We can always have sex here later."

"All righty!" the criminal picked up his wife, they went into the bedroom, there he dumped her right onto the bed. Ruby pulled off her robe, playfully swinging it at Jim. He took his swim trunks off, pouncing on her.

Neither one of them said anything as Jim entered Ruby in one thrust, knowing she was plenty slick enough for him this time. She initially put her legs around his waist but he wanted to see if he could go deeper. Jim put her knees on his shoulders but she could only tolerate that for a few minutes.

The positions they tried were many but they preferred good old fashioned missionary. Ruby used her legs to thrust her pelvis up every time Jim rocked his pelvis forward and he grunted with pleasure.

"Oh God, Jim! Shoot it inside me!" Ruby cried out, quivering in anticipation. That was all Jim needed as he thrust forward once more and released his load. Both of them covered in sweat, panting heavily, Ruby came with her husband; both collapsing on the bed.

Ruby's imagination fired up as they took a few moments to get their breathing under control. Sperm racing across her uterus, half going up each fallopian tube, meeting the mature egg she had as a reward for the best candidate, then her egg chose which sperm was the winner. Once fertilized, the egg would roll down to the uterus and implant itself.

The rest would be history. Jim, his breath still coming in huffs and puffs, asked Ruby what she was thinking of.

"Conception."

"Oh? How long does my sperm stay alive inside you?"

"One week. Damn! When you say stay alive inside me I just get so randy! I have no idea why!"

Jim started laughing as he allowed her to straddle him. "Now I know your trigger!"

Ruby was unabashed. "I always thought the best sex was from when I was pregnant." she allowed Jim to play with her boobs.

"Yeah? You liked that big bump getting in the way?" he eyed her pelvis, his mind now on similar pathways to hers. Jim always thought of his sperm like super sperm, always hitting its target and never failing. Both of them were in their thirties now, not essentially their reproductive peak years, but both of them had been proven fertile.

"It's hard to explain." Ruby edged up as Jim brought his legs up at his knees, made her lie on his thighs, her head at his knees, her hair streaming down his legs, exposing her pelvis to him.

"Let's see.. hello to the being inside my wife," he teased. "if you're a boy we will call you Anthony Sebastian and if you're a girl we will call you Elizabeth Antonia, Liz for short."

"You're mocking me!" Ruby sniggered but stayed put.

"What's that?" Jim put an ear to her pelvis. "You think your mommy's being weird? Try living with her!" both of his hands were on her pelvis now as if he could caress what was inside of her.

"Jim!"

"You like being inside your mom? Think of it-you'll be getting a rent free apartment for nine months, your food will be pre masticated, and you go wherever she goes! Sweet deal!"

"Sweet for him. You know what happens now."

"You go for an ultrasound tomorrow?"

"No," Ruby pulled herself off of Jim. "we have to wait about a month to see if the egg got fertilized and implanted OK. We go from there. Give me a break, Jim. I know your sperm is great but it's not that fast."

"Right. I don't know when we go back to England but it might be awhile."

"That's OK. I should at least be able to sort out all the networking and technical problems in a month's time."

"I knew I made the right choice with you." Jim smirked. The two of them spent the next few minutes catching their breath, Ruby went to brush her teeth, then got into bed with him naked.

Ruby made Jim turn over so she could spoon him that night. Jim surrendered himself to her feminine touch, hoping that he could stay calm enough to become sleepy. His wife's sweet breath on the nape of his neck soothed and comforted him so he relaxed more freely. Before he or Ruby knew it, both of them were asleep.

-"Mommy!" a little blonde haired girl shrieked as she stepped off the bus from school. She had gray eyes, her hair was beginning to darken with brown and red at the roots, and she was about four years old.

Ruby laughed as she picked up the little girl. "My darling! Have fun in school today?"

"We learned numbers! See, one, two, free-"

"Three, honey," Ruby told her daughter patiently. "three."

"Th-free." the child spit out the word like it didn't taste good. Ruby just giggled as she and the child went into the house.

"There's my little Jenny!" Jim came out of the living room where he was entertaining their two-year-old son Tony. Tony was shaping up to be another mixture of his parents, his father's brown eyes and his mother's curly hair. The toddler got up on his legs, bowlegged and wobbly, began to walk erratically towards his mother.

"Daddy!" Jim put Tony in his playpen, taking his daughter from his wife. Ruby fetched Tony from the playpen, installed him in his high chair, then gave him food to eat. Jim put Jenny in a booster seat, gave her supper, sitting opposite her after he'd gotten his own.

"Eat up, my lovelies!" Jim chirped, thinking there was nothing better than his daughter calling him daddy. He could see Ruby thought likewise.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Technical Work Finished

At work the next day, Ruby's body and Jim's as well were still singing about the night before. Every time their eyes met in passing it was like an electric shock between them, a secret that nobody knew except themselves. Every so often they would exchange a wink.

It took three weeks to fully bring the network online with hardly any bugs in the system. Ruby had racked her brains, researched, bought high quality components, then redesigned the network interface.

Ruby had opened up the door to the mainframe closet on the first floor, took a company laptop and hooked it into the hardwired connection. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, making changes as she went. She deleted the interface home screen, dismissing it as confusing garbage, then began to redesign it.

It involved reprogramming a number of lines of binary coding in the system. She had a file of clipart to use so the images actually corroborated what the words meant. A lot of people were visual thinkers anyway so this would help.

Two hours into her reprogramming, Jim asked her to lunch but she declined, saying she was completely absorbed in her project and didn't want to interrupt. Jim acted the same way when he was in the zone, so he smiled, said he would bring her back something, and left.

When the interface was finally done, Ruby spending about four hours total on it, she called Carlo in, gave him the brief tutorial, then said she would write up a help file anyone could access. Interfaces were confusing for beginners and she knew the feeling.

She could write the file anywhere so she chose to sit in Jim's temporary office, working on the laptop while he and Fabian discussed staffing options. The talking didn't bother Ruby as she tuned it right out.

"Done!" she said with a flush as she saved the file, automatically linking it to the mainframe.

"Well done," Fabian gave her a true smile. Ruby had the feeling he was reserving judgment on her until he saw what she was capable of. "the new interface is very clear cut and handy."

"Thank you, Fabian." she smiled back.

"Would you help us with putting up these ads on the job site?" Jim inquired, handing Ruby a page of looseleaf paper. "You type faster than anyone I've ever seen."

"Oh, all right." Ruby teased, starting up a fresh Word document. She copied Jim's scribbly handwriting, saved it, then logged into the job website account. Cutting and pasting the text into the various spaces saved her some time and effort.

"How do we go about getting snipers?" Fabian asked Jim.

"We have a list of candidates," the criminal smirked, producing a list from his jacket pocket. "my chief sniper knows some people who are ex military who are looking for independent contracts. He's put some calls in and tonight I can have him start lining up interviews."

"Good. Mrs. Moriarty, we have a little medical wing upstairs. If you would like, I can take you both up there to have a look around."

"Great!" Ruby got up, eager to escape the laptop for a bit.

The medical wing upstairs had two treatment rooms, a small triage and recovery center, and one operating room. It was stocked properly with plenty of supplies. Ruby admired the fact that hardly anything was white. The walls were pale green, the curtains were plum red with neon pink flowers, even the operating room was a pale yellow.

"Is this a medical wing or a Picasso? Very nice with all the colors." Ruby complimented.

"Thanks! I was trying to think outside the box on this one." Fabian looked genuinely pleased with Ruby's praise.

"Well, great job. I think colors tend to help patients recover more. White is so bleak."

Jim and Fabian talked more about insurance and how the medical center was going to be run while Ruby decided to go downstairs and run a final check on all the operating systems.

It took about an hour to get everything up to her standards but finally satisfied, she was able to shut off all systems for the night. Carlo had gone and so had all the staff except Fabian and Jim. The two of them were still upstairs chatting so she went to the car and waited for Jim to come down.

"So what's up?" Seb turned and smiled at her from the front seat.

"Not much. The system is finally working properly at long last! It's been 3 weeks and I feel like I've been through hell and back."

A few days later, Jim got up, drew the curtains back, then sighed in delight as the sunshine poured through the window. The bay was calm, a few lobster trawlers were going out into the open ocean lazily. A seagull shrieked nearby as an ocean breeze gently tousled the curtains.

Jim missed London and he definitely missed Aster Hall. They had been to the hall once last summer for a week's vacation, but had been called back to the city for work. Ruby had done considerable work on the garden, getting the cypress trees hauled away so she could put in forsythia bushes instead. She'd already put several rose bushes and daffodils.

There was still new employee training that had to be completed, so Jim was going to have Ruby type up what he dictated to her. She was very good and fast on a keyboard so he had no doubt that it would be a cinch.

"Ruby, fancy a shower?" Jim pulled back the sheet to see Ruby was slightly pink around the cheeks and looked like she hadn't slept.

"You don't look so good, sweetheart." he put his hand to her forehead but there wasn't any fever he could detect.

She coughed once, tried to respond, but all that came out was a squeak. Jim brought her water which she drank, but her voice was gone. All that came out was a strangled groan.

"You've got laryngitis," the criminal diagnosed. "I'll have Seb bring you some tea with honey to try to fix it some. Do you feel like staying here or coming with me?"

Ruby groped for her phone and sent Jim a text message: I would like to stay home today, sorry babe. R.

Jim chuckled as he brushed back Ruby's hair from her face. "I'll try to get home early, OK?"

She nodded, trying to talk but Jim put a hand on her shoulder, wordlessly telling her to stop straining her voice. "Just stay here today and rest up. Go back to sleep." he refrained from kissing her for obvious reasons.

Jim got ready for work, checking on Ruby just before he went out to meet Seb. She was already asleep, a pillow over her face to block out the light. Closing the curtains and making sure that the sliding door was shut and locked up, Jim saw the whole villa was secure and he left for work.

For Ruby the day went by slowly. She woke up around ten AM, got some breakfast, then took a long bath. Adding a bubble bath bar to the hot water brought lavender scented bubbles to the surface, soothing Ruby and her throat to some degree.

Italian TV was all nonsense to her. It detracted from her enjoyment having to read the small English subtitles so she kept it turned off. But her tablet and phone could stream TV and movies so she used her tablet to watch the latest James Bond film, Spectre.

When she was done with that, she put the tablet aside, opened up the curtains, then took in the late afternoon sun, hoping someday that she would be able to share this moment with her children.

Back on the bed, Ruby glanced over to the clock radio and saw that it was 4 PM on the dot. She had time for a quick nap before supper so she pulled the fleece blanket up over her legs and put her head back down on the pillow.

Jim arrived home at 5 PM, bearing a gift of herbal tea and honey for his wife. When he checked on her he found out she was sound asleep on the bed. With a grin, he pulled the fleece blanket up to her shoulders, checking for a fever.

Satisfied that there was none, Jim went into the kitchen and began to cook dinner. Remembering the fiasco last time he tried cooking, Jim grinned sheepishly, making a point to stick with what he knew. Green beans, mashed potatoes and plain cooked chicken were on the menu.

When all was ready, Jim roused Ruby. She sleepily walked into the dining area, happy to see that Jim didn't burn the villa down. Ruby appreciated all of his efforts and it was a passable meal. He didn't elevate the dishes with spices, but that was a bit beyond his talent range at the moment.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Cold

Later that evening on the bed, Jim fixed up Ruby the herbal tea with a splash of honey in it, handed it to her, then flipped through his tablet. His next day's agenda was training the new employees which consisted of him giving Fabian a hand as necessary.

They'd hired about three snipers, all ex military, an administrator for the medical floor, an assistant for Carlo, and a receptionist for Fabian. She would handle the calls and screen the emails, sorting from obvious spam and legitimate inquiries.

Ruby would handle the three new agents Fabian had hired, all of them were female and were very ambitious.

"Do you think you'll be OK by tomorrow?"

Ruby shrugged. It was 9 PM and both were ready for bed. Jim understood exactly, reached over to turn the light off, then spooned his wife. Happily Ruby settled down into sleep, loving the feeling of her husband's arms around her.

Later on that night Ruby woke up with her throat scratchy and a bit flushed. She got up, went into the bathroom, then checked herself in the mirror. The flush in her cheeks had gone from pink to red, a sure sign she was getting worse. Ruby inwardly groaned, knowing she had confine herself to another few days of being under voluntary house arrest.

A coughing fit distracted her attention for a few moments, culminating in several painful wheezes that made her throat feel like it was on fire. Ruby wiped off the sweat from her brow and started fumbling in the medicine cabinet.

"Why is it me?" she whisper-croaked to herself. "Jim never seems to get sick!"

A bottle of NyQuil was sitting on the bottom shelf but to her dismay there wasn't much left in it. She'd have to ask Jim or Seb to get some more for her. Ruby drank the remains of the bottle which added up to one total dose. Turning out the light, she walked wearily to bed, pulling up her fleece blanket tightly.

When Jim woke up the next morning, he found that Ruby was lying supine next to him, looking even worse than she had the previous day. He put a hand to her forehead, frowning when he felt she definitely had a fever, then reluctantly got up.

Spying the empty bottle standing on the kitchen counter, Jim texted Seb, asking if he could buy another bottle of NyQuil or its generic equivalent some time that day. He warned Seb, telling him that Ruby was down with a cold and unable to speak.

As Jim was about ready to leave the villa for the day, he heard a rasping noise and several loud coughs which sounded like goose honks. Wincing at the intensity, he hustled into the bedroom where Ruby was sitting up.

"Hey, Ruby," he greeted her cheerfully. "I asked Seb to get you more medicine so he should be here before long. He won't disturb you if you're sleeping."

"Good," Ruby could talk a little bit now through the obvious congestion. "I'll be OK."

"I'll be taking a half day today so I can get home and take care of you." his eyes shone in the morning light as Ruby gave him an appreciative look through her feverish gray eyes.

"Don't be exerting yourself," Jim warned as he stood up. "I'll know about it." Ruby would have laughed but she groaned as another pain in her throat shot through her.

Leaving that day was not easy for Jim. He knew Ruby had a chest cold with laryngitis, she would not do anything to make her illness worse, but still he worried. Seb had already dropped off the medicine for Ruby by the time he met up with Jim.

Ruby did take it easy, sitting up in bed, getting breakfast and lunch for herself, though she didn't want to eat anything. She knew she had to keep her strength up to fight the cold, but it left her with no appetite whatsoever. Forcing herself to eat wasn't appealing and she couldn't taste anything, but she needed the energy to keep up her body's defenses.

Oddly enough she kept having dreams about children which reminded her that maybe she was pregnant again. Ruby made a note to buy a test or go up into the medical wing and perform an ultrasound on herself to check.

It had been more than a year now since she'd given birth to little Arthur and Ruby often wondered about that child now. As she was standing beside the bed, a coughing attack hit her out of the blue. She hacked and wheezed, sinking down on the floor beside the doorway to the room to try to get her breath back.

"Ruby?" Jim's voice floated to her like a welcome cloud over a hot sun. He walked into the room, found her sitting on the floor, then began to check her over.

"Come on then, onto the bed!" he lifted her up and put her down on the bed. Jim sat on the bed with her, propping her up. Clearly Ruby was in no mood to talk as she draped her head on Jim's shoulder almost mournfully. He could feel the heat starting to radiate from her and was immediately concerned.

"Did you take any medicine today?" she shook her head no. "Bad girl! Why don't you take a bath to loosen up that congestion?"

Ruby grinned a little bit as she went off to fulfill that suggestion. In the meantime, Jim got into his everyday clothes, settling down on the bed and pulling his laptop onto his lap. He worked a little more until Ruby came out from the bathroom. She curled up next to Jim while he put an arm over her shoulders.

"Sleep now," he advised. "I'm here."

Eyelids drifting shut she was asleep before she knew it. Ruby hadn't felt so loved and protected in awhile.

Jim tilted his head so his cheek was on the top of her head. Looking through his emails, he finished them and gave his wife a little kiss fondly.

What woke Ruby next was a clatter from the kitchen as Jim had dropped a sheet pan. She stood in the doorway as she watched Jim fumbling with the crockery and trying to put it all back without making a sound. He glanced up halfway through his task, blushing a bit when he saw her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he apologized. Ruby was feeling a bit better as she washed her hands, seasoned the pork chops and set them to cook. Jim took care of the sides, set the timer, then both retired to the living room to watch Italian TV with English subtitles.

When supper was all done, Jim banished Ruby from helping in the kitchen, sending her to the bed. Changing into a fresh nightgown with her favorite robe, Ruby fell asleep, jolting awake as Jim joined her.

He immediately regretted his action as a coughing fit overtook Ruby for a few minutes, both wincing at the intensity. The medicine was over on the night table for her to take so Jim reached around, picked up the medicine, then gave her a dose.

"Too bad we didn't hire up a suitable doctor yet," Jim said somewhat apologetically. "not much in the range of applicants."

Ruby knew that Fabian had interviewed a candidate but she had to interview the person as well. She would get to it as soon as she was well enough. Not saying a word, she admired how Jim fussed over her. He gripped her by the shoulders gently and lowered her from sitting to supine, grinning a bit as her black hair fanned out against the pillow.

"Sorry I can't kiss you right now," Jim turned the light down low as he pulled his laptop over from the night table. "you know."

Neither one of them kissed the other but Jim pressed Ruby's hand to his own as he flipped up the laptop screen. He glanced at his sick wife, noting that the slight feverish eyes seemed a little less feverish.

Jim turned on his left hand side to face Ruby, brushing her hair back from her eyes. She gave him a smile and he could tell that she was already getting sleepy.

"Go to sleep now, love. Time to get some rest."

Ruby was already more than halfway there. She exhaled a sigh, shutting her eyes. Jim continued to stroke her hair for a few minutes before turning back to his laptop.

Finally when he was ready to go to sleep, Jim changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, got into bed, then spooned Ruby, hoping that she would be well enough in a few days' time to come back to work with him. Not that she was in need of money; Ruby needed to be occupied with work. A bored Ruby was an agitated Ruby, prone to overcleaning and cooking just to eat up time. Jim didn't complain much about that as her cooking was delightful.

Before sleep overtook him, Jim just listened to his wife breathe, knowing there was no sweeter sound to his ears.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: First Client

Ruby had taken a full week to recover from her cold. She woke up one morning with no congestion in her chest at all, got bored with nothing to do, then proceeded to clean the villa. Jim called it over cleaning and made fun of her for it, but she preferred to call it deep cleaning. Even the shower curtain got a thorough washing.

Ransacking the kitchen, she hauled out a crock pot, sliced up pork loin and vegetables, put in a bit of beef stock, then set it to work. The pot would slow cook for six hours on low, creating a beautiful aroma of spices which would perfume the house and surely set Jim's nose tingling.

Ruby plunked herself down on the couch, giving herself over to reminisces of the past week. Jim had looked so cute and sweet to her when she was sick, being worried when she had a coughing attack, scolding her when he knew she was pushing herself to be awake longer. Ruby had tried to increase her stamina by overexerting herself when her body wasn't ready.

Jim had stopped that before Ruby ruined her health completely. Sternly he had picked her up and put her to bed before she knew what was happening. In retrospect, Ruby was grateful for his attentions to her. Nobody knew her better and she wanted to thank him.

Jim arrived back a bit late as he had been kept interviewing a potential new hire. He enjoyed Ruby's supper heartily, remarking that he missed the crock pot recently and was going to ask her how to use it properly. Ruby gave him the lowdown on how to use one, gave him dessert, then had an idea about how to thank him for his help in getting her well again.

Playfully, Ruby told Jim to sit on the edge of the bed and put a blindfold on.

"Do you feel up to this?" he did so willingly, wondering what was brewing in her head.

"Oh yes. I'm not contagious anymore," she said playfully, taking her clothes off and replacing them with a sheer sarong and white see through bra. "I think this will make your senses fire right up and your imagination will be humming." Ruby twisted her hair up out of her eyes and secured it with a big butterfly clip. "I want to thank you for nursing me this past week."

"Oh that's not necessary-" Jim began but he cut himself off as he inhaled sharply. Ruby had put her hands on his knees and moved them up to his inner thighs. She stripped him of his shirt and blazer, necking and tonguing him up and down his neck the way he liked.

Jim made to touch her, to reciprocate, but she told him she would have her turn with him first. Her tongue tickled his neck, his shoulders; she even kissed the tips of his fingers. Ruby playfully took his hands and put them all over her. She was right; his imagination was on fire as his mind filled with memories of her sensuality. She squeezed his thighs with her hands, taking off his pants, shoes, everything.

"Lie back now.." she whispered into his ear, pushing him down gently. Jim was too happy to oblige, as his arousal was getting very obvious. Ruby did several more things to beguile his senses but what he liked most of all was the fragrance of her perfume she was wearing.

He felt Ruby's hands on his chest as she lowered herself down on top of him. She teased him a little bit, allowing his dick to touch her vagina a few times, showing him how wet she was. After a few times of that, Jim grabbed her thighs to make her stop. Ruby obliged him as she lowered herself down fully.

The two of them began to gyrate together, mutually kissing and necking each other while their pelvises bucked up and down in their erotic dance of passion.

Several minutes later, both of them climaxed together, each crying out the other one's name then lying beside each other. Sweaty and panting, their hands joined as the clock radio indicated it was 11 PM.

Grinning, Jim removed the blindfold. "I have to say you were right. My memories and imagination got so fired up I made myself really horny."

Ruby giggled, stretching out one of her long legs. "The primary sexual organ really is the brain, Jim. It creates the desire so our reproductive organs can work."

"Speaking of reproductive…" he laid his hands on her belly. "Do you know yet?"

"No, hon. I don't feel any different but it would be very early in the game. Even the tests you can buy wouldn't notice around now."

"Oh. OK." they kissed and said goodnight.

At work the next day, Fabian was becoming more like Jim as in being very selective in his cases he wanted to take. Ruby had just hired on the doctor for the headquarters or HQ that she thought would be most suitable to do the job so she had time to go down to Fabian's office.

"Come in, come in!" Fabian had considerably warmed up to Ruby ever since she had fixed their computer networking system. Jim stood in one corner, brow furrowed as their client was shown in by the new secretary.

Ruby stood near Jim with her pad of paper and a pen. She didn't need to do that but it made her seem more official.

"Now then, Mrs..." Fabian consulted the personnel file and email he'd received. "Davis, you have requested my attention for your husband?"

Mrs. Davis was an elderly woman with white hair, she walked with a stooped gait and a bent back, making her look hunched over. Keen blue eyes peered out from her wrinkled face as she nodded. Ruby caught a scent of rosewater and honeysuckle from the old woman; one hand slightly trembling as she clutched a cane.

"Please, sit," Fabian had noted her shakiness. With a grateful nod she sat down. "why do you come to me?"

"Well sir," she spoke in throaty tones with a slight smoky tinge. "my husband is Giovanni Davis and we are going through a nasty divorce after 50 years together. He is cutting me out of the assets of our joined properties and finances."

"So what can I possibly do for you? Surely the best divorce lawyer around can get more than enough equity."

Mrs. Davis cleared her throat. "Provided that I can speak freely sir, I need some help to get around some laws."

"What do you have in mind?" Fabian's practiced careless tone drove Mrs. Davis on in urgency. Ruby and Jim nodded secretly to each other.

"Plant some fake stocks on him, establish a company that goes bankrupt so he loses all his shares in it!" Mrs. Davis's eyes sparkled with revenge. "Along those lines should suffer a big blow to his pride. He is a gambling man so you can use that to your advantage."

"I see.. so an assassination is out of the question?" Fabian drawled.

"Oh Lord no!" Mrs. Davis insisted. "He's toyed with me during the 50 years of our marriage. I want him to suffer, sir!"

"I like you, Mrs. Davis. All right, we will try it that way." she extended to him her card with contact information.

"In a day or two's time we will contact you," Fabian told her as he showed her out. "you will get what you want."

"Oh thank you, sir! Do I need to pay you now to keep you on a retainer?"

"You have already given my secretary a check, yes?"

"I have sir. You will get another one when this is all said and done. You will have ten thousand by that time."

"Not to worry, Mrs. Davis. We will be in touch." Fabian shut the door.

"Leave it to Ruby and me," Jim spoke up, glancing at his wife. "we need to go and get some research done in order to make up a plausible faux company to sucker Mr. Davis in."

"All right then. I have several more emails to screen through and schedule appointments for. Once this one gets done, Mrs. Davis will spread the word through some trustworthy friends, and we get busier."

"There we are!" Ruby sang out, clicking on her phone. "Romeo Davis, shipping magnate, has his hands in other companies. His likes include escorts, big fat Cuban cigars, young and attractive women in general. Ooh, rumor has it that he has funded a very dirty porno magazine company."

"Excellent!" Jim flexed his neck a bit, getting ready for the show he was about to put on. "We meet him in a club tonight. I'll have about 100 shares of a fake cigar company, and I hope you're willing to don your Vicky Renegade costume again, Ruby."

Ruby smiled. "I am at your disposal." was all she said.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Vicky Renegade Returns

"Ruby!" Jim called, straightening out his shoes. "Are you ready?"

Ruby threw away a spray canister of blonde hair dye, put on bright red lipstick, then donned her stripper outfit for the night.

"Give me a sec!" she got into her leopard print bra and matching boy shorts. Ruby fastened on the same metallic sarong which was her signature piece when she played Vicky. Her black pumps fastened on at the ankle were still in good condition as she clicked across the tile floor to meet her husband.

It was Jim's first time "meeting" Vicky Renegade and his eyes widened when he saw how dressed up she was.

"You take all that time getting ready and you wear next to nothing!" he teased, pinching her ass as they walked to the car. Ruby laughed as she swung on her coat to cover herself up some, entering the car as Jim opened up the door for her.

"Looking glamorous!" Seb gave her a friendly wink in the rearview mirror. "Which club is it, boss?"

"Glitter," Jim said the name with distaste. "what the hell kind of a name is that I'll never know."

"Right." Seb agreed as he put the car in gear. "So we have Giovanni Davis in here, meeting with you about a what?"

"A lucrative trade in fine Cuban cigars," Jim said airily, picking out a cigar from his jacket pocket. "but it'll come down around him for that one and his soon to be ex wife will be laughing at him from her piazza. She's already put down a handsome deposit on our services."

Ruby grinned, winding up her braid and pinning it to the back of her head in a knot. All she had to do was give Giovanni a lap dance if he wanted one to seal the deal and look good.

"By gaw boss," Seb turned into the parking lot. "this job never gets boring, does it?"

"Never!" Ruby playfully told him as Jim opened up the car door for her.

In the club, Jim went to one of the back private rooms called the Shimmer room. He rolled his eyes at the gaudy décor and the overdone atmosphere in general. Even the stripper poles were embedded with glitter. The strippers were overdone, most of them wearing what looked like clown makeup and underwear which was mockingly nicknamed butt floss.

Ruby had gone off near the room to dance with the locale, a Bluetooth earpiece in one ear so she could hear if Jim needed her. Over the partition of the Shimmer room Jim could see her quite clearly.

The Shimmer room wasn't done in pink so Jim could be grateful for that at least. He put his blazer on the green couch along with Ruby's, tenting his hands under his chin, his elbows on his thighs as he waited.

Lazily his eyes went to Ruby out on the dance floor. One of the men had boosted her up to a stripper pole on a small square of raised stage. She was above all of them now, waving to the men, pretending to blow kisses to them. The only real kiss was blown to Jim or at least in his direction.

But Ruby had some moves! Jim observed her pole dance as she gyrated and moved to the beat of the song that was playing. Where in the hell did she learn to move like that?

A scantily clad waitress knocked on the door to announce his guest had arrived. Giovanni Davis was of medium height, portly in build, a bald head with some hair around the sides. His face was pinched in a permanent expression of what Ruby would call the who farted look. He wore a plain navy blue suit with black tie. Icy blue slivers of eyes peered out from the wrinkled countenance but brightened as he saw the strippers dance.

"Have a seat." Jim told him, gesturing with one hand across from him.

Giovanni did so, leveling his glare at Jim, uttering a few coughs which Jim guessed was an out of control smoking habit combined with his corpulence, making him short of breath.

"So what is this proposition?"

"To the point, aren't you? Care for a drink?"

"When we're done."

So Jim began giving Giovanni his pitch for investing in the manufacture and distribution of fine Cuban cigars. He gave the one he had to Giovanni, who sniffed it and put it in his coat pocket.

"Of course at my age I tend to spend money carefully," the millionaire told Jim. "but I believe this will be a good investment even though the damn company is offshore in Cuba there will be hassles getting them exported to over here."

"I have men for that," Jim's voice was velvety smooth, yet a hint of menace was evident in his eye. "they know their way around the law."

Giovanni seemed to succumb to Jim's look then his eye wandered to the stripper dancers. Jim followed his look, seeing that his eye was on his wife as she mounted the pole in another suggestive dance.

"You like her, don't you?" Jim spoke into his phone. "Get up here."

Ruby heard him through her earpiece and got off of the platform. She disappeared into the darkness, hoisted herself up onto the partition of the Shimmer room, then greeted Jim with a sexy smile.

"Hey babe," she plopped down on the couch and put one shapely leg on the small coffee table. "how's it going on in here?"

Jim let out a primal purr that only Ruby heard as he walked over to her, eyes narrowing from the distant strobe lights. "It appears our friend here needs some convincing." Ruby winked and smiled.

"Give the old man a lap dance!" Jim retreated to his spot as Ruby stood up, going over to Giovanni and putting one leg on his crotch.

"Remember that those rich Cubans will find another investor ready to take up the fifteen percent share in equity for a measly two hundred thousand!" Jim motioned for a drink from the waitress who gave him a vodka tonic.

Ruby gave Giovanni quite a performance, touching herself, letting out erotic moans, etc, knowing she was giving Jim quite a hard on in his pants. He looked about ready to blow when Giovanni cried out that he would sign a check right there and then.

Jim gave Ruby a covert glance which meant good job as she backed off. The check was signed, the equity share was filled out and handed over, thus business was concluded.

When Giovanni was done signing off on the check and countersigning the equity share certificate, he invited Jim and Ruby to walk out to his limo.

In the dim light of the sign of the club, Giovanni's limo pulled up to the side entrance and he was just telling Jim about the divorce he was going through from his wife when the businessman clutched at his chest, eyes wide with pain, then he gasped and fell over, nearly taking Ruby with him.

"Giovanni?" Jim knelt down and checked the old man's pulse which was nonexistent. Ruby turned pale as she checked as well but there was nothing there. She began to automatically resuscitate him, breathing for him as Jim called for an ambulance.

"What do you think happened to him?" Jim covered Ruby in her long coat so she wouldn't attract so much attention.

"From what I can see, a heart attack or some other heart related problem to be sure." she answered as the ambulance drove up. Jim disappeared from sight as Ruby gave a statement to the paramedics, stating she was on a night out when Giovanni paid her for a lap dance and he keeled over when he was escorting her to her car.

The next morning the headlines were blazing with the story of Giovanni Davis, master investor and millionaire, was dead. Ruby and Jim walked into HQ, immediately heading for Fabian's office to catch him up on what was going on.

"Ugh," Fabian groaned. "I've only been here ten minutes and I've already had to deal with Mrs. Davis. Do you two have the check?"

"Yep." Jim presented it to him. Fabian put it in the safe behind a painting on the wall.

"I never doubted you," he sat back down in his office chair with a broad smile. "that'll satisfy the old widow now. Why did you decide to kill him?"

"We didn't," Ruby interjected. "he keeled over in the parking lot. I had given him a lap dance that his old ticker couldn't take. He was a chronic chain smoker and very fat. He was a ticking time bomb."

"Do you think that they'll understand that?"

"Who's they?"

"His two sons, Marcelo and Ernesto. Once they hear of all of this they will come after you. They have their father's money, they're spoiled brats with too much money and too big a sense in entitlement."

"They can't prove anything."

"The truth doesn't matter, Jim. They want you both gone for revenge against their father. They won't stop for anything."

"This day keeps getting better and better," Ruby wasn't fazed by much but she was unnerved. "what can we do, Jim?"

Jim put his hand in Ruby's. Fabian smiled but kept quiet as he could nearly hear the cogs in Jim's brain churning out ideas.

"I hid myself from view and Ruby was in heavy makeup from her stripper character," he said finally. "we will be on our guard. Fabian, is everything all set here?"

"Yes indeed."

"Then we will head back to England. I think all the kinks have been worked out of the networking systems?" Ruby nodded. "Good. Give Mrs. Davis that check or more likely as she's a widow now, she can choose to sign that check over to you to cash as your reward."

"She was delighted, I can tell you," Fabian smirked. "very happy Giovanni is gone now."

"Jim do you propose we just run for it?"

"Nothing of the sort, my dear. If there are two sons after us, we should be back on familiar turf. They won't know England as well as we do."

"True, I think. We should give the London HQ a heads up." Jim made a few phone calls while Ruby thanked Fabian and Carlo for their assistance to her and Jim while they got things up and running. The two Italians thanked them doubly for all their help and were genuinely sad to see them go.

By noon that day, thanks to Seb's connections, they were on a private plane heading back to London, completely unaware of the danger that was awaiting them.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Explosion in Hyde Park

The day after the couple arrived back in London, Jim went over to the HQ to keep everyone what was informed of going on; instructing his staff to pay attention to where calls were coming from. He had designed a special program for his cell phone which would screen out all fake locations and identify whether someone was calling from a burner phone. When someone called him now, despite the area code showing one number, the real one would show up right underneath him with GPS coordinates showing their exact location.

Ruby was walking through Hyde Park one morning, on her way to the grocery store, humming to herself. She pulled out her phone and texted Jim she was walking through Hyde Park, telling him finally the birds were singing about spring.

It was a beautiful day outside, around seventy degrees Fahrenheit, so Ruby didn't even bother to bring her jacket with her. She smiled at the children playing on the swings, joggers, people walking their dogs, etc.

A strange beeping sound had attracted her attention so she paused to look for whatever it was making the noise. Ruby had no sooner turned to glance in the direction of the sound when an explosion rocked her off her feet, sending her flying backwards.

"What on earth?" she mumbled, half dazed from whatever it was that she'd hit. People started screaming, Ruby wanted to call for help on her phone, but her vision was very wobbly. She was definitely concussed, buried in rubble from the kids' clubhouse, incapable of moving to help herself. All she could manage was to put her fingertips on a loose wooden board, but her vision darkened and then went black completely.

Jim heard the sirens screeching, reached for his phone, then checked the news headline BOMBING IN HYDE PARK-MANY CASUALTIES. Stunned, he thrust his phone in his pocket, jumped up from his chair and bolted out the door.

"My god, Ruby!" Jim exhaled sharply as he jaywalked across the street in a sprinting run, visions of what might have happened to Ruby flashed across his mind. "Hang on girl, I'm coming to get you!"

By the time he arrived, the firemen had already succeeded in putting the fire out, several ambulances were lined up and treating the wounded. Not seeing Ruby anywhere made Jim stop in his tracks and glance about wildly.

Ruby roused once, wanting to call for help, but she couldn't use her own voice due to the smoke inhalation from the nearby fire. Her clothes weren't just damp, they were completely soggy from the fire hose. Coughing to clear her throat out, she spied a spider nearby that looked like it was coming over to her.

She'd always had a massive fear of spiders even as a child. They were scary to look at and she would always scream. Fortunately today was no exception to that rule! Ruby shrieked in fear and pain, unable to move. Her vision grew narrower and blacker within two seconds, then she passed out again.

Jim turned his head so fast in the direction of the scream he nearly pulled a muscle in his neck. Sprinting forth, he found the pile of rubble that had once been the old kids' clubhouse, fell to his knees, then began to tear at the loose boards, chucking them to the side recklessly.

"Come on, Ruby!" it took a minute before he saw her left hand, cut and bloody. Jim grabbed it, pressing his index finger against the carotid artery in her wrist. When it thumped reassuringly, he gave a little smile and continued to throw aside the debris.

"Ruby!" finally he found the rest of her prone form inside the wreckage. A few helpful people began to dig with him, one ran off to alert the paramedics.

His wife was sopping wet from the fire hose, making Jim glad that it was warm that day. He drew her out of the debris, lying her down on a clean patch of grass. Remembering what Ruby had taught him, he pried open each eye, looking for signs of a concussion. Not finding any, he checked her over for broken bones but all he found was several bloody cuts and possibly a burn on her right arm.

"Medic!" Jim barked. The paramedic dashed over with a body board, wordlessly asking Jim to help him. Together they put Ruby on the board, using belts to fasten her down securely. Inside one ambulance they put her on the stretcher as the paramedic began to check her vital signs.

"They're all normal, sir. Are you related?"

"We're married." Jim helped to clean and bandage her wounds. "Almost five years now I think."

"Good for you two, sir. Anyway, there's no signs of lung damage but she's going to be raspy for the next day or two. Is she by any chance pregnant?"

Jim furrowed his brow, the nights in Italy when they'd been intimate flashed across his mind. A faint flush rose to his cheeks which the paramedic chose to tactfully ignore. "I don't know."

"Well, we can check on that for you." the paramedic instructed Jim to pull down Ruby's pants to expose her pelvis, put some gel on the transducer, then turned on the portable ultrasound. The criminal watched, not holding out any hope that Ruby was pregnant again, as this wasn't exactly the way either one of them would like to find out. He pressed his hand to Ruby's, hoping that she'd wake up, but that didn't happen, unfortunately. Jim picked up an alcohol swab and bandaged up one of the cuts on her hand.

"Imagine me finding out first," Jim sniggered. "weird."

"I know!" the paramedic giggled as he found Ruby's uterus and focused in on what might be in there.

Jim saw it before the paramedic did. A very small grainy image which reminded Jim of two bubbles and a faint string. One bubble was the head, the smaller oblong one was the body and the string was the umbilical cord. There was a little fetus inside his wife, with a perfect head. "How old is it?"

"I would say about eight weeks for sure," the paramedic pressed a few keys and Jim could hear the heart beating. "I think she'll be fine, though I do want to get a bit of medicated oxygen into her. It might wake her up enough to get home."

Jim was enchanted by the hearing the heart beat. Ruby had never wanted to hear it when she was pregnant with Arthur but that was so she didn't bond with the baby. This time around it would be different.

The paramedic turned off the ultrasound machine, leaving Jim to wipe off the gel grease on his wife's pelvis. Ruby was outfitted with a mask over her mouth and nose, given a few deep breaths of healing oxygen to her lungs. She didn't revive right away but eventually Jim caught a glimpse of her gray eyes.

"Hey you," he said quietly. "let's take you home." the very helpful paramedic gave them a lift and assisted Ruby into the house.

Once she was safely installed on the couch, Ruby glanced at her husband who looked like a dog that was wagging his tail off. There was an air of suppressed excitement about him that even she could not fail to notice.

"Jim, if you can't sit still you should go for a walk or something." she teased. "You look so restless!"

"Don't you think there's good reason for that?" he leaned forward, one hand on her thigh.

Ruby gasped then coughed a few times, groaning. She knew the raspy feeling the smoke had given her would be taking a few days to get out of her system so she had random hitches of breath and would start coughing.

"I was involved in a park accident or whatever and you're happy? Are you being insensitive?"

"What?!" Jim took her hands in his, understanding she was feeling a little vulnerable and cranky at the same time. Her head hurt and it took awhile for the headache medicine to work.

"Are mad, love? Do you know what I suffered when I had to dig you out of that rubble, call for help and then we discover-" he cut himself off, unable to hide a grin.

Ruby's interest was fixed on him now. "What did you discover about me?"

"I-"

"Oh god, was it something bad?!" she cried. Jim took her hands in his like he always did to calm her down. Ruby locked eyes with her husband as he realized he didn't need to say anything at all. He guided her hands down to her belly and a few more inches downwards until they were touching her pelvis.

With his brown eyes alight from the excitement, Jim watched the comprehension slowly spread across his wife's face. She smiled up at Jim, the pieces of the puzzle being put together in her mind.

"Let me guess. The paramedic asked if I was pregnant and you didn't know."

"Exactly. Truthfully I wasn't thinking much about that at all." both knew that Jim had been more concerned for Ruby's health and safety. Funnily enough neither of them had been thought about her being pregnant since they first started having unprotected sex again.

"All ambulances have portable ultrasound machines on board so I guess this was a no brainer."

"You might say that."

"So how old is it?" Ruby laid back on the couch, both hands on her pelvis like she was afraid someone would steal her unborn from her. Jim joined her hands with his own, leaning over his wife protectively.

"Eight weeks all told. I heard the heartbeat."

"Well, I was there but not there.. We should inform Dr. Blair of this new development."

"Already done. He says if you're not too tired you can come in tomorrow for a scan."

"All right! I think you will be with me. It is part yours after all."

"Damn straight. You know this does mean we conceived when we were Italy after all."

"Well, let's assume it was that fabulous night when we started out on the porch overlooking the ocean." Ruby remembered fondly.

"Do you know what this means now?"

"We can have unprotected sex and screw all we want!"

"Yes! One thing really stymies me however," Jim said thoughtfully. "how is it when most other women are sick to their stomachs the first three months and you never show a symptom at all? Do you have amazing willpower?"

Ruby laughed, removing her hands from her pelvis and interlocking them with Jim's. "Nope. I never had much in the way of morning sickness anyway. This is my third time being pregnant and nothing has ever bothered me."

"Perhaps we should extract whatever's responsible for your immunity and sell it."

"We're already rich, Jim."

"So? There's room for more money in our accounts." he told Ruby, deadpan. "What I want to know is where those two Italian boys are. I'm certain they are behind this."

"Have you got your people out looking?"

"Of course. Especially now that you're pregnant, we have to get them fast to make sure nothing happens to you or the baby."

"What if I have twins, Jim?"

"Don't joke about that!" he winced amid Ruby's chuckling.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Spying and Sex

During the next few days, Jim had his spies out on the street, combing every alleyway, checking with the pub owners, etc. He'd even sent Ruby out on a mission, dressed as Desiree the slutty secretary to seduce a crooked cop he had in his employ.

Ruby put on Desiree's red lipstick and long blonde wig. She put the hair up in a ponytail, donned the thigh length gray skirt, black heels, ruffled pink blouse, and a little black clutch purse with the fake phone in it.

She turned to Jim, sliding on a pair of sunglasses, striking a pose. He eyed her with lust very clear in his face as she started chewing bubble gum. Despite Jim's polished look with his dark brown Westwood suit, he could feel an obvious reflex starting to push up his pants.

"Do me a favor," he began as they walked downstairs. "when you come home, don't take off the getup."

"You like it, eh? How many guys do I have to shake down for info today?"

"Just three," Jim handed her a slip of paper with names and locations, coloring slightly as Ruby slid the paper into her bra with a teasing grin. He eyed her up and down, letting out a low whistle. "No matter what you wear you will always be sexy to me."

"Back at ya, hunky husband of mine. Suppose we do a little role playing tonight?"

"I think it's very probable. Text me anything you might find out." Ruby pulled out her little 9 mm Beretta from the gun safe, then slid it into the cleverly disguised hip holster. Jim saw a thong in bright red she was wearing and instantly felt his erection restarting.

"Hard to believe our son or daughter is going to plop out of that in nine months' time," Jim got his wife in a front to back hug as she straightened up.

"Plop I wish!" she laughed. "If it was that easy I'm all over it! Now come on, I can't leave here all wet!"

"I can't leave here with a boner!" Jim mocked her back as they strode towards the door. It was early June now and the morning sunshine kissed them in the face as Ruby locked the door behind them.

Ruby dropped Jim off at the office then consulted her list of informants to "play with" as she so aptly called it. First one was at Scotland Yard police department.

"Oh, Daniel Tangway," she muttered, circling his name. "that yutz is almost too easy!"

Daniel Tangway was a crooked cop that Jim had in his pocket. Apparently once Daniel had nearly been busted on a drug run right next door to where Jim was dining that night. He had turned up next to Daniel just before the police could show up, told him what to say, and the cops left him alone. There were no charges, nothing.

As Ruby knew, she barely had to seduce Tangway into telling anything. A few strategically placed hand gestures like pretending to scratch an itch on her left breast and rubbing her hand on her outer thigh gave him all he needed.

He was too easy a target really. Once he saw her, Tangway told her about a few new guys with "funky accents" causing the police department several headaches. There had been a robbery at an electronics store the previous night resulting in thousands of pounds' worth of inventory missing, etc. Ruby didn't think that it was of any consequence but she would report it to Jim anyway.

The next two informants, a drug runner only known as "Lush" told Ruby that two Italians had come into England within the last week which was when Jim and Ruby had returned. One of the guys had bought some crack cocaine from Lush and made a mention of going to tour Buckingham palace.

Again, Ruby didn't think that was significant but would mention it. Her third target, a pub owner deep in London named Sam, gave her the information she had been seeking.

"So I had these two guys, Italian dudes by the accent, order some wine and were gossiping here at the bar about the incident at Hyde Park," Sam wiped the bar down as he openly ogled Ruby's chest. "they mentioned what a coincidence was when the Hyde Park incident happened a day or two after they got into London. To anyone that would be innocent, but I got suspicious. I sneaked a glance at a cell phone while they were ordering their second shots of Jack Daniel's." he slid a piece of paper across the bar to her.

Ruby unfolded it, revealing a phone number and a name, Mama.

"Apparently Mama is code name for someone who designs and builds their weapons," Sam leaned over to get a better view of Ruby's chest. "so what will that get me?"

"Well," Ruby stood up. "I figure about two grand and a little fondle will do just nicely for you." Sam didn't argue as he knew she was a tough negotiator. He enjoyed his erection inducing fondle very much, pocketing the two thousand dollars on Ruby's way out.

In the Accord, Ruby smiled, putting on the sunglasses again. She texted the number to Jim along with the information she'd received. Tangway and Lush didn't try very hard to get particulars but Sam did. Ruby liked him more than the other two she had to shake down every so often as he really worked for the money and hadn't let them down yet.

That night, Ruby and Jim had supper, then sat on the couch to watch a little TV. Jim curled up with Ruby, his hands stroking her arms as she chose an episode of the X-Files.

For the next hour Ruby was riveted and Jim found the episode interesting as well. Sneakily he pulled off her blonde wig and tossed it on the coffee table. Ruby sniggered as Jim began to put the moves on her, sliding her blouse down off her shoulders, unbuttoning the front, exposing her blue and white striped bra.

"Holy shit," Jim kissed her shoulders. "they get bigger?"

"You know they did. I already went up one bra size, Jim." Ruby had already vowed to herself that she would get her breast issue fixed before the second trimester. Dr. Blair would need to x-ray the tissue and sort out what was wrong with them first. She had told him her theory about the milk ducts not working properly but he wanted more diagnostic testing done to confirm it.

Jim tilted Ruby back so her head was in his lap, giving her a deep kiss. She reached for him with her hands and her lips hungrily met his. He stripped off his shirt, reached for Ruby, then hiked her up enough so he could take her shirt off.

It was definitely true about her chest size. The bra she was wearing had been an old pre pregnancy one and she was close to spilling out of it already. The criminal gave her a massage, making her moan happily, then released her bra, making her breasts bounce happily as the restraining garment was discarded to one side on the floor.

"So, wanna do it here or upstairs?" he kissed and kneaded her shoulders.

"Upstairs. More room up there." the two of them picked up their clothing and headed up.

Stripped down naked, Ruby struck a pose with Jim, allowing him to mount her like a horse, both seized with manic energy.

When they settled in for bed that night, Jim had Ruby in a side hug as they both stared at the ceiling of the four poster canopy bed they had recently upgraded to.

"So what do you think our lives will be like when the baby gets here?" Jim rubbed Ruby's left hand, admiring the way her wedding ring sparkled in the low light from the window.

"Sleepless nights. Feedings, bonding, all of that." Ruby yawned sleepily.

"Plenty of bonding. I have to say I'm excited about it. I wish it was here


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Fight

A few days later, the couple were relaxing at home and it was almost midnight. Jim hadn't gone to bed yet though Ruby had. For some reason it was like he could not settle down to sleep. Even the cat had gone upstairs to retire but he was too keyed up.

The criminal got up and looked out the windows like he was expecting someone, but nobody was there. He took a walk around the house with the key in his pocket, feeling very protective of his wife and his property.

Then he saw it. A shadow. Jim sidled closer, hiding in the glare of the street lamp. The figure stalked around the house as if studying the perimeter of the house, then disappeared.

Jim knew something was up then. The recent news headlines had been about nothing but the Hyde Park incident but of course the local police had been stymied in their investigation.

There wasn't any word whether or not Sherlock was in on the investigation but Jim doubted that he was. The detective would have or been close to blowing the case wide open for everyone to know.

Sherlock was back on fluffy teen magazines after his two year absence, much to Jim's disgust and the teenage population's joy. Almost everywhere he went he saw Sherlock's face, usually superimposed with giant pink and red hearts with odd bubblegum pink captions. Ruby had turned her nose up at them, laughingly declaring that Sherlock was still in the dark in many ways.

Trotting back up the front stairs, Jim unlocked the door, went in, then locked up the door behind himself. He changed for bed, mindful that whatever was going to happen would not occur that night at least.

The next day went on as usual. Jim cast a glance at Ruby as she took a sip of her coffee, his gaze going down to her belly. There was still no evidence of her pregnancy at all as her figure hadn't swelled up even a little bit.

"What is it?" Ruby caught him looking as she put her mug in the dishwasher.

"I was just thinking you're how many weeks now?"

"About nine. Why?"

"You're not showing even a little bit. I am a bit disappointed."

"Oh!" Ruby went over to Jim as he stood up, putting his hands on her flat belly. "Someone's got a preggie belly fetish. Did you get all boned up when you saw me all bloated and pregnant with Arthur?"

"Um.." Jim blushed as Ruby laughed. "No comment!"

"Oop, I tapped into someone's fetish and now look how red he is in the face!" Ruby teased him, making him slide his hands up under her shirt. "Anyway, Dr. Blair is taking a few x-rays of my boobs so we can solve my mammary issue."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Come on, love so we can get to work." since the headquarters were only six blocks away they chose to walk on such a lovely day. Ruby didn't feel under attack or threatened as Jim was with her.

It was a merry walk until they reached the street that was adjacent to HQ that the trouble started. A post box blew up, sending shards all over the place. Ruby yelped in surprise as Jim instinctively threw his arms over her, shielding her from the fragments. Next up a magazine rack exploded, sending papers everywhere and a shard of glass directly into Jim's arm.

"Did it get you, Jim?" Ruby brushed back the hair that had gotten into her face as Jim swore, seeing an inch long razor sharp piece of glass wedged into his lower arm near his wrist. "Yeah it did. Come on, let's take it out."

"Not here!" Ruby admonished him. "Upstairs."

"I'm really regretting not taking the car!" he ruefully said with a laugh.

Upstairs Ruby set Jim on a gurney, brought over a stitching instrument package, then filled up a syringe with lidocaine to numb his wound. Jim removed his blazer and rolled up his white shirt as Ruby put on rubber gloves and began injecting him with the lidocaine.

Neither one said a word and Jim even watched as Ruby finished numbing the area, opened up a kit of sterile suture line and began to stitch his injury closed.

"First off it's the muscle layer I have to stitch," her technique was quick and deft. "then I close off with a layer of skin sutures." Jim admired how dexterous she was with the curved needle.

Snipping off the excess, Ruby put the now dirty suture kit into the wall storage unit which the surgical technician would remove to clean it later on. She rubbed a bit of Vaseline on and around Jim's sutures to promote healing, then put an oblong bandage over it. Jim rolled down his sleeve, noting how his injury hadn't really bled at all.

"That's because you had the sense not to take it out-that glass shard." Ruby remarked. "Off to work with you while I get my test done."

The rest of the day was uneventful. Jim saw several potential clients, Ruby and Dr. Blair got to the root of her lactation issue. Dr. Blair had taken a few x-rays of her breasts, making her wear a lead apron around her waist to protect the baby.

"You've got a couple of galactoceles." he tapped the x-ray lightboard where Ruby's x-rays were displayed. She could see a few radiopaque stone like formations, noting they were deep enough so that she couldn't feel them when she did her monthly self exams.

"That's it?" a couple of harmless calcium stones were occluding her ducts.

"Yeah. It's slow right now so do you want me to take them out?"

"Yeah!" Dr. Blair removed the offending stones from her ducts, numbing with lidocaine, excising the stones, giving her a single stitch on each of her breasts. She smiled as the thought of her being able to nurse her baby came to the front of her mind.

That night Jim was feeling restless again. Ruby dismissed his behavior as business related as he kept consulting his phone. The both of them were stretched out on the couch watching TV when the sound of broken glass penetrated their ears.

"Jim, what's going on?" Ruby picked up Cassidy as a thick smoke began to spread into the house. Eyes burning, Jim nearly fell over the ottoman as he felt his way over to a window to open it. Amid the smoke he caught sight of a person in black running down the street to vanish at the intersection.

An intense heat came up from the basement as both Jim and Ruby began coughing convulsively. Jim managed to pull out his phone from his pocket and call for help. He grasped Ruby's free hand, pulling her out of her smoke related stupor, leading her to the door and outside.

Letting Cassidy down on the ground, Jim guided Ruby to sit down on the stairs until she got her breath back. Slowly the panicked look dissipated from her face as she coughed the smoke out of her throat.

"All right?" he rubbed her back as he gave a few deep coughs himself.

"Yeah," the sirens approached the house and pulled up in the yard. Jim directed them to the basement. "you suspect something down there?"

"I saw someone checking out the house last night," he admitted.

Ruby's head snapped up, surprising him with a sudden ferocity in her eyes. "You saw that and didn't tell me?"

"I didn't know what he was going to do-"

"But he was going to do something!" Ruby cried, standing up. "Jim, by not telling me, you not only put me in danger, you put our child in danger too!"

"There was no danger last night-"

"Bullcrap! The fact that someone has been casing our house is enough cause to tell me so I can be on my guard! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to upset you. It could have been nothing."

"Well, it wasn't. I can't trust you, Jim." she turned to leave but Jim caught her wrist.

"What are you saying?" the criminal had never seen such a look of betrayal and determination on his wife's face before. It almost made him afraid to look at her.

"You put me and the baby in danger. You betrayed my trust, Jim. I can't trust you not to do it again. I have to leave." normally she would just give Jim a warning, but the fact that another innocent life was involved in the whole mess made her more determined to protect it. If that meant leaving Jim she would do it.

"What?! Where will you go?" his grip became painful so Ruby tried to wriggle out of it. His knuckles were white and she could not break their grip on her. She let out an involuntary grunt of pain and only then did Jim release her.

"My parents left me a little property but I can't say any more than that."

"Why?"

"Jim, the house is intended to be a refuge. My baby and I could have died tonight because of you so you're not entitled to know where it is. I have to remove myself from you because I can't trust you with my life any more. It was too close a call."

"They'll still find you. Don't think because you're not here anymore that they won't still get you." Jim was getting angry. "You're being incredibly dense to think that they might not come after you."

Ruby glared at him. "I have to do what's best for my child because you obviously are not! I thought you wanted to become a father!"

Jim had no reply for that. Ruby disappeared, packed up her things, put the cat in a carrier, then put the items in the backseat of the Accord. Jim stood in the garage, watching her.

"They'll still come after you. You're a fool for leaving my protection."

Ruby gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "I'll always love you, Jim. But after what you just said I love you less. Maybe you'll get a text when your child is born."

Tears came to Jim's eyes but he forced them back. She was right and had every right to leave but he didn't want to admit it yet. Ruby eyed him, gave a little shrug, then got into the Accord.

It wasn't until the car had disappeared from his view that Jim clenched his hands and let out a howl of pain and regret. The love of his life was gone now; he'd have to work twice as hard to woo her back and regain her trust.

Even worse was the prospect before him that if he didn't act soon, he could miss the birth of his child. He had to make amends and get his wife back as soon as he could if he wanted to be part of his child's life.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Seclusion

About an hour and twenty minutes outside of London Ruby pulled up to a small log cabin that was sitting on a lake. The cabin had been bequeathed to her as an inheritance from her late grandfather almost ten years ago. Ruby parked the car, taking the cat out of the backseat, walked up the red flagstone pathway to the porch.

The cabin had never been painted on the outside as everyone had always preferred the rustic look and it was less maintenance. Ruby took out her keyring, selected the right key, then unlocked the door.

There was a TV area to the left when she walked in, a wood burning fireplace was tucked into the corner. A futon and a rocking chair completed that side of the room. Her grandparents were big fans of the open concept living and dining areas so there were no walls between the two.

Crossing over to the living area, Ruby unlocked the sliding glass door, seeing that the old Adirondack chairs had rotted out completely. She would have to haul those to the dump at some point. The old grill that had once sat on the deck was long gone-stolen a few years ago but Ruby had never used it.

After the cat box was set up, Ruby released Cassidy, who was delighted at the scents of long dead mice that she could apparently still smell.

Ruby occupied herself with unpacking her clothes and groceries she'd bought along the way. Her anger at Jim had petered out a bit but she knew she was doing the right thing by taking herself away from the situation entirely. It was the health and welfare of her unborn child that she needed to consider before her own now. As much as she loved Jim he just didn't seem to get it.

Going down to the dock, Ruby observed that the new dock she'd bought for the property was still holding up very well. It was ten years old now and out of the water at the moment, but she would be able to put it back in.

Both of the boats were still on the shore upside down where she left them. There was a red painted wooden canoe and an old rowboat made out of metal with the bow painted deep green.

That night with a mug of hot chocolate and a roaring fire blazing in the fireplace, Ruby settled down to watch some TV. Cassidy parked herself in her mistress's lap, purring happily.

Ruby scratched her ears and gave a little grin. When she'd first inherited the place, after she'd met Jim, she'd had contractors renovate the kitchen. The kitchen was like stepping into a 1950s style one which she'd never liked. Now it was fully modernized, much like the wiring in the old place. Her grandparents had never believed in smoke detectors so she had one put in every room, upgraded the bathroom, threw out the old furniture, etc.

The cabin had four bedrooms, all upstairs. Two had twin beds in them and a dresser, the other two had queen beds and a dresser as well. The men in Ruby's family were all on the tall side so queen beds worked well for them.

She went to sleep that night hearing the sounds of the loons on the lake. It always comforted and soothed her, so she went right to sleep.

Jim had a hard time sleeping that night, his thoughts full of his wife. He rolled over in a restless sleep only to be confronted with the fact that Ruby just wasn't there on her side of the bed. He'd sent a text to Seb, asking him to at least keep an eye on Ruby, knowing she would not be willing to see him any time soon.

What Jim didn't know was that Seb, being fond of Ruby, had already put a tracker on her car. He had been checking the tracker from his laptop and discovered her whereabouts. Seb wrote down the directions to her lake cabin, intending to drive up there within a day or two.

In the meantime, Seb had checked the city over for any clues regarding the Mama character who had been building and selling weapons to the Italian brothers. He'd turned up some other buyers from various places who pointed him in a general direction.

One night Seb had gone to the location he'd been pointed out to reconnoiter and assess the logistics of the area. He'd been surprised when it turned out to be a small new looking shed behind a local cemetery. Surprised at first, he peeked into the windows of the shed and when he saw them assembling explosives, he knew that it was the base of operations.

The Italian men hadn't been seen anywhere but Seb knew they wouldn't be far behind. First task would be to ransack the shed and shake down the employees who worked there.

Seb checked his cell phone, seeing that Jim had texted him, asking if he would track down Ruby. Replying to Jim, Seb told him that he already had tracked her down and based on the location, she would be safe for the time being. A reply told him that he and Seb would go to the shed at the cemetery that next day to get information.

The sniper smiled to himself. Jim sure was eager to get Ruby back and the best way would be to eradicate the threat to their lives. He knew all about the situation that they were in-including Ruby's pregnancy.

Jim was wild about Ruby but Seb wasn't really surprised that Ruby had gotten up and left when he did. She had a fierce protective streak in her nature which was not to be tested. Unfortunately Jim did and he was paying the price for it.

The next day Ruby rose up from bed, blinking in the bright sunlight streaming in from the windows. Cassidy shook herself out and purred, nudging Ruby's hand with her face. She petted her cat as she completed her morning routine, then her phone buzzed.

Clicking it on, she found a text from Seb: Found the "Mama" location, am going to shake it down tonight for leads with Jim. R U doing OK?

Yeah fine, she texted back. I'm OK.

As the day progressed, Ruby took a swim in her bikini, surreptitiously looking at her figure, but nothing was evident yet. She walked out of the water onto the little sandy beach, grabbing her towel and knotting it around her waist.

"Hi there-oop, sorry!" a tall middle aged man paddling a blue canoe bumped into her silver canoe moored at the dock. Ruby turned to him and laughed as he sorted himself out at the dock. Ruby gave him a hand as he tied up and got himself out of the canoe at her invitation. He was indeed tall, as Ruby just came up to his mid shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Ruby Gray."

"Andreas but everyone calls me Drew Stevens." Drew had receding brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Pleasure, Drew. What brings you around?" they walked up to the cabin and the screened in front porch. Ruby fastened the door to the outside, opened the sliding glass door so Cassidy could come out to roam a little bit.

"Not much. Just my week long vacation before I head back to the drudgery of work." Drew leaned back in the Adirondack chair and sighed. "Then the wife comes back from her business trip."

"Don't I know it.." Ruby giggled. "my husband is closing some big business deal and I take my vacation when I can find the time."

"You said you were a doctor? Me too! I'm a gastroenterologist."

"Nice! I'm an internist but I did want to go into dermatology."

"What happened then?"

"My abusive ex boyfriend cut me off from society and I couldn't do anything. Fortunately I met my husband around then."

"Great. My wife is a nurse and we've been together for 28 years. You?"

"Five."

"Still not bad. Any kids?"

"That's a bit of a story," Ruby admitted, sitting down next to Drew as Cassidy jumped in her lap.

"I've got nothing but time."

"Well, I got pregnant the first time but the baby was born without a brain. I donated the organs to other babies."

"That was a very noble thing to do." Drew approved.

"Thanks. Well, the second time I was raped and conceived a child from it. My husband and I opted for adoption, met a suitable couple, and the child was born to them. Right now I've just found out that I am pregnant."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Getting Information

"You are? How long?" Drew inquired, looking down at Ruby's nonexistant bulge. He thought he could see a little change in her figure but it was very slight. Ruby noticed him looking but didn't care about it.

"Tomorrow I believe it will be nine weeks."

"Does your husband know about it?"

"Of course. Actually he was the first one to find out," she outlined the circumstances of how Jim found out in the first place.

"So this one will be the first for both of you? A normal child with a functioning brain for you to love?"

"That's our plan. How about you?"

"Well, we didn't have any plans for kids. My wife miscarried twice and after that we said no more. You can only take so much heartbreak in this life. She had a few gynecological issues resulting in a total hysterectomy."

"She did?"

"Yes indeed. She's much happier now that the trouble is gone."

"I can bet! Uteri are so much trouble, giving the woman so many issues, being the cause of so much bullshit."

"True. She had a few rocky spots in the road to recovery but she's fine now."

"Good. At work I'm often in surgery with a surgeon as his assistant."

"Nice. What kind of surgery?"

"Mainly cardiothoracic."

"Very nice." Ruby and Drew gossiped about their cases for awhile. Drew lived about four doors away in his own log cabin. He gave Ruby information about his London practice, glanced at his watch, then stood up, announcing he had to leave. Ruby saw him to his canoe, inviting him to stop back anytime he wanted, then went and prepared lunch for herself.

Jim and Seb arrived at the shed in the cemetery at around 6 PM that night while the employees or lackeys were still in the shed, working on the explosives and firearms. Seb cleverly picked the lock on the door, leveled his gun in his hands, then burst into the room.

The criminal walked with arrogance into the room, seeing the crates of illegal weapons stacked up in the corners. Two work desks stood in the middle of the room with two men wiring up the detonators and other assorted paraphernalia. A third man was checking off a list on a clipboard.

"Nobody move!" Seb ordered as Jim strode behind him for a moment. When Seb, with his sniper's instincts, determined the room was safe, Jim stepped out and wrenched the clipboard out of the worker's hands.

"A requisition form," he drawled slowly. "I don't remember ordering all of these things. Who are these things for?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you!" there was a distinct Italian accent as the criminal and the sniper glanced at each other for a split second.

"Marcelo and Ernesto Davis!" one of the workers at the desk piped up. "I'm so sick of them treating us like crap!"

Seb took his attention off of the lead worker as Jim put the clipboard aside. "What do you know about those two?"

"Those two entitled rich brats with the father who had no class?" the worker spat out like it tasted bad. "They treat us like we are no better than those poor serfs from Russian times."

"What a pity. It's obvious you do hard work," Jim drawled, easily putting on the phony sympathy act. The lead worker made a quick movement but Seb covered him with his gun, merely leveling the pistol right between the guy's eyes.

"I can get you a contract deal with other people. You know computers?"

"We both do," the workers' interest peaked. "what are you thinking?"

Jim gave them contact information for the Italian branch of his company. "It's newly up and running but I'm sure they can find contract work for you."

"Wow, thank you, sir. Fuck this explosive shit, I never wanted to kill anyone." the two workers left, hopefully for better lives. Seb gestured for the worker left to sit in a chair while Jim questioned him.

"So, where exactly are Marcelo and Ernesto?"

"Think I'd tell you?"

"Yes I do," Jim took a knife out of his pocket, opened it, then expertly put the cool blade under the chin of the worker. "this blade is a millimeter away from the carotid artery in your neck. You tell me anything but the truth, and you'll bleed out in under a minute."

"Fine!" the worker huffed. "It's not worth my life to keep those boys' location a secret!"

"Well spoken," Seb complimented, idly spinning the barrel on the pistol. "the easy way is the best way in this case."

"Yeah, well, I'm not paid enough to put up with this bullcrap."

"The selfishness of those two really shows," Jim didn't think he'd need the knife now but he didn't want to remove his deterrent. "tell me everything you know about them."

It didn't take long to get the information. What the worker said pretty much confirmed Jim's suspicions. Two boys who had been spoiled from birth, pampered and sent away to a boarding school where they had been in more trouble than anyone else. The father Giovanni had paid off the school board and teachers to look the other way and had essentially bought them diplomas.

It was the same way with college. By the time they had "graduated" they had become drug addicts and had drinking problems. Their mother had tried to get them clean, but they had refused. Now both were chronic drinkers and smokers. Jim didn't have to wonder any more why the widow Davis was so delighted that her husband was dead. Both boys took after him.

"Where are they now?" Jim demanded.

"In the Royal Regency Hotel, floor 20, rooms 1223 and 1226. The penthouses."

"That's not so bad, is it?" Seb wheedled as he holstered his gun. Jim withdrew his knife and put it away.

"Now because you told us everything without any trouble, I can offer you the same deal I did the other workers here," Jim straightened up. "would you be interested?"

"Why not?" he accepted the same information and left the shed.

"That guy knows the Davises pretty well." Seb remarked as they left the shed and walked to the curb through the cemetery.

"He was the Davis foreman for many years," Jim gave his sniper an odd look. "weren't you listening?"

"Sorry, boss."

"It's all right. I could barely concentrate either."

"It's been almost 3 days since she left. Missing her somethin' awful, boss?"

"Of course," Jim sighed. "I want my Ruby back!"

"Just give her time, that's all."

"I wish I knew how much time to give her. I hope she and the baby are OK."

"They are. You know I know where Ruby is and I'm going to stay in touch. She talks to me a little bit."

"Oh yea," Jim said sourly as they got into the car. "she talks to you."

"She will talk to you again. In her last text she told me that she still loves you."

"Really?"

"Yeah! She will always love you, Jim. She just doesn't like what you did to

her."

"Makes sense."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Surgery

Ruby turned off the TV and stood up, stretching. It was almost 9 and she wanted to enjoy a quiet night. It was a bit cool outside so she shut the sliding glass door and stoked up a little fire in the fireplace. Cassidy marched over and parked herself right in front of the hearth. Ruby laughed and stroked her cat's head.

Someone walked up the pathway as she flicked on the outside light, already knowing who it was. Smirking, Ruby opened up the door and admitted her guest. Seb came inside, removing his trucker's hat with a grin at his friend.

"So how are you doing?" he flopped onto the couch, shooting an appreciative glance around the first floor of the cabin. "Babe doing OK?" he could detect a little roundness in her figure after not seeing her for a few weeks.

"So far so good." Ruby put a hand to her little lump fondly as Seb smiled.

"So when you coming back?"

"Not yet anyway. I feel much safer here knowing that only you know where I am."

"I see."

"Were you going to spend the night tonight or is this just a late call?"

"I'd like to stay overnight if you don't mind. How's the bed situation?"

"They're all pretty comfy, Seb."

"OK. Set me up!" he filled her in on what he and Jim had been doing and how they had made headway on taking down the Davis brothers. Jim was at his laptop at that very moment, determining the best way to really make their downfall hurt.

"That's an easy one. Just take away all their money." Ruby had told Seb as she showed him into the room.

"We have to destroy their reputation as well."

"That should be easy. Have Jim hack into their company database and pull a Wikileaks. Their record should speak for itself."

"I'm sure that's already on Jim's mind."

"I know it is. Jim will cut them new ones, so to speak."

The following morning, Ruby wasn't feeling too well. Attempting to put on a brave face and fool Seb didn't work as he had the instinct that she didn't feel right as well. She was nauseated, exhausted, and she wondered if it was just the stress of gestating a child.

"What's going on with you?" he bluntly asked. Ruby turned from the sink with a look on her face that told Seb she didn't know what was going on either.

"I don't know. Let me call Drew so he can examine me."

"Who's Drew?"

"He's a guy who is visiting his lake cabin about four doors down. He's a doctor as well." she pulled out her phone and dialed the number. Within minutes Drew arrived, made her lay down on the couch, then focused in on the area that she was hurting.

"Do you still have your gallbladder?"

"Yeah."

"That's the most likely culprit. I'm going to take you in to get an abdominal ultrasound to make sure it isn't anything else."

"OK." Seb picked Ruby right up so she didn't have to walk and potentially hurt herself in the process. He loaded her into the doctor's car as Drew slid in next to her, drawing the door shut.

"Take good care of her," Seb said amicably, giving the doctor the number for his phone. "she's a special lady."

Drew had to wonder how special she was if a guy who was built like an ox was worried about her. Was he the father? There was no time for that as he started up his Chevy Traverse and put the car into drive.

Once they were out of sight, Seb called Jim.

"What is it, Seb?"

"Ruby's taken sick. I'm here until they get back from the hospital."

"What's wrong with her?"

"He just took her in, Jim. They won't know for a bit."

"Who's 'he'?"

"She made a friend, another doctor if you can believe that. From what I found out there's a bunch of bungalows not far from here that's let out to doctors from the hospital every year. Ruby'll be in good hands while the doctor does his thing." Seb whipped out his knife and sliced a branch off the pine tree that was looming in his path.

Jim sighed. "Make sure she gets tested for everything, all right? Spare no expense."

"The doctor won't do anything to hurt her, all right? It's in their oath."

"Do they know she's pregnant?"

"Yeah. She's got a little bump there now so she's doing fine so far."

"Call me if anything changes."

"Will do, boss." the sniper hung up and went into the cabin.

At the hospital, Drew directly admitted Ruby because of her baby. She was put into a private room, taken for an abdominal ultrasound and got her baby checked too. The tech didn't find anything unusual but Ruby was good at interpreting ultrasounds and detected multiple stones in her gallbladder. It was inflamed and thickened, accounting for her pain and fever.

When she was back in her room, Ruby lay on her left side so she was facing the door, feeling too hot and not wanting to move. A wave of sleepiness hit her and she closed her eyes, thinking of Jim.

All too soon Ruby felt the cool hand of Drew's on the side of her face. She felt the mattress sink down a little bit as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"You're too warm," was how he greeted her.

"I know."

"So your gallbladder has a lot of stones in it and fortunately for us the general surgeon wants to remove it right away. You're having an episode of biliary colic-when a stone tries to escape and gets stuck. This is very common and it'll go right back. Because of the fact you're pregnant, they want to take out your gallbladder right away to prevent any more problems to either one of you."

"Well, I'm in the early days yet so yes, the sooner it comes out the better I'll like it."

Drew giggled. "I'll be happier to see you up and about. They didn't find anything else wrong with you so once we get this out and keep you for a few days to make sure you and your baby will be OK, you can probably go back to your cabin."

"Good."

"What about your husband?"

"I need to text my bodyguard and tell him to tell my husband that I'll be OK."

"All right. They want you in about ten minutes."

"OK. Don't forget to come and visit me tomorrow. I know I'll be too fuzzy in the head today to remember anything."

Drew squeezed her hand in a friendly way then with he looked at her pelvis. Underneath the sheets was her little lump but nobody could see it through the sheets yet. Ruby saw him looking and pressed his hand to where it was.

"Not shy about it are you?"

"No; I rather enjoy the attention." he laughed.

"Time to get this show on the road!" an orderly trumpeted, bearing a gurney. Ruby was familiar with the drill; she got up and with Drew guiding her, she got onto the gurney, lay down, then took her new friend's hand.

"Can't thank you enough."

"Right doctor at the right time. You'll be all right. The surgeon is a friend of mine." he reassured her.

Ruby was taken away, put in the operating theater where she was outfitted with all the cardiac leads, etc, and interrogated about reactions to anesthetics. When she said she never had a problem, that was all they needed to hear, so they outfitted a syringe loaded with sedative into her IV catheter, then began to slowly inject her with the drug.

"Put her into that goodnight deeply," the surgeon teased. Ruby felt the world doing some sort of breakdance, then closed her eyes.

At the same time Jim was staking out the Italian's hotel rooms when he got a text from Seb: Ruby needed surgery for gallbladder. It went well. Baby's OK.

"Good." he clicked his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. Jim's mind was temporarily at ease now about his wife and hopefully within 24 hours he would have some leads on what the Italian brothers were going to do to them both.


End file.
